11.27.2014

We are currently getting blasted by a mega slushy winter storm, so being in front of the computer in between plowing duties is a welcome respite! It truly looks like a Slurpee cloud has parked over our town and decided to drown all lifeforms with a liqui-freeze vengeance. At least the girls and I have been able to raid all of Michelle's cakes for tomorrow.

This final release for 2014 has been in the works since the beginning of the year, completing the series of return visits to some of our older assortments. The previous Pappysoup Volkriun selections each hold a special place with us over here, especially the 2012 5th Anniversary round. We generated a lot of crazy content internally and with our longtime collaborators for that big wave, capped off by the introduction of the first production Armorvor. I had hoped to have the new Armorvor head ready to accompany this Volkriun Space Force crew, but Captain Ruger and the green machines will have to wait just a little longer to discover what new activities the Armorvors are involved in.

To spice things up Argen has returned from a little Gendrone walkabout along with his cohort, Enyriun, this time with both of them sporting an "Ultra" metallic pearlescent gold look including full detail lines. This matches right up with the recent Sectivorus Supreme Kabuto Mushi by the Godbeast himself, Marty "Totinos" Hansen.

Something a little different, as far as paint applications go, is also in the mix for Sunday, materializing in the form of a special Redlaw Phanost. Shot in clear purple (Henshin inspired), this particular Phanost has painted metallic silver accents, and then a black detail line around all those silver areas as well as the lower portions under his eyes. The idea was to create the effect of the silver armor almost floating on the clear purple parts, and the end result is something that I've only ever tried with custom stuff. The included Sarvos and Scar Pheyden heads looks pretty sharp with this added effect as well.

The final part of this equation comes in the form of an Alcray themed Super Crayboth Pod. The familiar hues of light orange, pink and purple are all back, and for the first time a Reverse Alcray (Standard) has been produced.

Gah! Even when I try to keep it short I end up making a mini mountain! That being said, everything is in hand and ready to go.

11.26.2014

We have something prepared for this Sunday, November 30th at 9:30PM EST to complete our releases for 2014. Task Force Volkriun will be returning, this time in the form of the Volkriun Space Force (featuring a new shade of green from the same Pappysoup inspired color family as the original 2012 assortment). This wave will also see an expansion of the PMS Cool Gray 7C PVC across all the Accessory Set selections, allowing some direct backwards compatibility with the last Tracker, Rig Crew and Crayhunter waves (it's a good compliment to Glyaxia as well).

We wanted to close out the year with a little variety, so green and gray (Gundam MSV props) are not the only colors on deck.

One important point of interest is that the new Armorvor head is still in the retooling stage, as getting the mold just right has been one of the more challenging things I've personally rumbled with since we started full production. What this means is that there will be no new Armorvors until the mold modifications are nailed down completely. Currently, the earliest planned release is for late January 2015, with our first assortment of the new year. It seems that the old wolf head was not very pleased with our decision to replace its furry noggin. I have been documenting the entire process, and as promised in earlier posts, I would like to share the high strangeness that has been this project with all of you as we roll into December. Hopefully when you see this new head, the wait will have been worth it.

11.14.2014

We want to give a big thank you to everyone who came out for Designer Con this last weekend! It was an excellent show and really had a little bit of everything to offer from across the boards.

George and Ayleen are onto something special, and I have a feeling that DCon will become the main destination for independently run operations to showcase their stuff in the coming years.

Massive thanks to October Toys and Ben from 3DRetro for offering a quality venue that lines up with what we're all doing, and for their incredible hospitality and attention to all the tiny details. We absolutely want to go back in 2015 and highly recommend you check it out for yourselves if you get the opportunity.

Pasadena was a fun spot to explore and we ate all kinds of grub during the trip. I think the Brazilian Barbecue almost destroyed Mori. Maybe he'll create a new character based on the experience.

We'll pop up some pics from the show (and outside of the show) over the next few days.

11.06.2014

After a number of years without a proper visit, we're headed back out to the West Coast, this time to attend the legendary Designer Con which happens this weekend, November 8th and 9th (Booth #401).

Located in Pasadena, California at the Pasadena Convention Center, Designer Con is loaded with tons of incredible artists that cover many different aspects of the independent toy world- from all around the globe! We are extra excited that our extended family from Tokyo will be in attendance, with RealxHead,Uamou and Skull Toys all rolling out fresh selections of sofubi magic.

Nemo Campisi from Nemo's Factory (who currently has a figure in the tooling process over at our factory) plans on showing his fantastic Robot prototype (produced by the masters atTrue Cast Studio, creators of the Glyos compatible Walking Dud figure) as well as some incredibly innovative hand made felt creations that need to be seen and handled to be believed.

The elusive Jesse Moore will be at the show in spirit only, as he
continues to build his Screen Printing Death Star up in Beverly. Even
though he's had to take an extended hiatus from production for most of
this year, Skullface's daddy
still has a few tricks up his sleeve. We'll miss you on this mission,
Gimli, and will eat multiple In-N-Out Burgers in your honor.

The rollcall of talent lined up for this show is pretty intense. Here is a list of this year's vendors.

We want to send out a gigantic thank you to our great friends George and Ayleen of October Toys and Ben Goretsky of 3DRetro for putting such a powerhouse event together. Marc, Megan and I are very excited to be part of the action this year. Michelle and the girls will hopefully make it out for the next one!

Thanks for reading through this link bomb of a post!

Please come by Booth #401 and say hi, and we hope to see some of you real soon!